Fire lookout · Spotsylvania County, Virginia
Chancellor Lookout II
Also known as Chancellor (Spotsylvania), Chancellor
Spotsylvania County, VA 80-foot Aermotor tower built February 1928 on state land; manned to late 1960s; removed circa 2019; land now private.
- Gone
- Private land
- Verified
Private land
No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Land is privately held; the register describes no public access
Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed circa 2019 per both registers; no source describes what remains on the site
Visit & stay
Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.
Access
Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- sources disagree
- Type
- Cab on a tower80-foot Aermotor tower, with the words 'Prevent Forest Fires' inscribed in the concrete at the foot of the stairsThe design: Aermotor
- Built of
- SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1928
- Height
- 80 ft (24.4 m)
- Elevation
- 423 ft (129 m)
- Agency
- Private (formerly Virginia Department of Forestry)
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Spotsylvania County, Virginia
- Coordinates
- 38.21278, −77.72444
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-va-chancellor-lookout-ii
View from the cab
What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.
This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.
Downloads about 3.3 MB of terrain data the first time.
Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.
History
Then and now
- 1928 BuiltBuilt February 1928 through cooperation between the Virginia Forest Service and the Spotsylvania Forest Fire Protective AssociationSources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1928 and 1957
- 1957 EventRadio reported recently installed in a Free Lance-Star item dated April 22, 1957, linking the tower to the Forest Service frequency at CharlottesvilleSource: easternuslookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1957 and 2017
- 2017 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 27, 2017 as US 1191, VA 38; nominated by Kristin ReynoldsSource: nhlr.org
- 2019 RemovedRemoved circa 2019 per both registersSources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
- 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered March 24, 2020 as US 1932, VA 35; nominated by James HullSource: firetower.org
- TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.
Old maps of this spot
USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The Chancellor lookout stood on state-owned land near Shady Grove Church in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.1 The Virginia Forest Service and the Spotsylvania Forest Fire Protective Association cooperated to put the tower up in February 1928.1,2 It was an 80-foot Aermotor tower.2,3 The register says it was the county's second tower to carry the Chancellor name.2 An item from July 1928, quoted on Forest Lookouts, went further and called it the first steel tower of that height in the state.1
The register says the public could visit the tower during the 1920s and 1930s.2 A November 1929 notice quoted on Forest Lookouts said visitors were welcome on each remaining Sunday that month, unless it rained.1
The register says staffing continued until the late 1960s.2 By April 1957 a radio had been installed at the tower, tying it to the Forest Service channel at Charlottesville, according to a Free Lance-Star item quoted on Forest Lookouts.1
Both registers date its removal to around 2019.2,3 The land is now privately held. The register says it was formerly administered by the Virginia Department of Forestry.2
The register describes the land as wooded and says it was first planned for small neighborhoods, but the funding never arrived.2 It says the words "Prevent Forest Fires" were inscribed in the concrete at the base of the stairs, and that the tower seems to be the only one so marked.2 Its photos include an aerial image of the site, taken by drone in August 2019.2 No source we read says whether that concrete or any other part of the tower remains on the site, or whether the public may go there. The owner is private, so anyone interested should ask before going onto the land.2
- Chancellor, Forest Lookouts, https://easternuslookouts.weebly.com/chancellor.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Chancellor Lookout II, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/va/chancellor-lookout-ii/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Chancellor Lookout II Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/va/chancellor-lookout-ii-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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Where sources disagree
We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.
Sources disagree on whether it still stands.
- FFLA: Gone
- NHLR: Standing
- FFLOS: Gone
NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered.
Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) (opens another site) Gave us: register numbers, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- eastern US (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site) Gave us: height, links easternuslookouts.weebly.com · No licence stated; facts only (county, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, status, height, design hints, register links). The site's own historical quotes, newspaper citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story
More about this lookout elsewhere
- NHLR register entry US 1191 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- FFLOS register entry US 1932 (firetower.org) (opens another site)
- FFLA Virginia lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Chancellor (easternuslookouts.weebly.com) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.